to dry out and compromises its quality, snuff boxes have tightly-sealed lids to ensure that air does not penetrate the box, although wholly air-tight boxes are a rarity. Table boxes can still be found in the mess of certain old regiments – often in the traditional 'ram's head' style – and a communal snuff box is kept in the House of Commons in the UK parliament. People of all social classes used these boxes when snuff was at its peak of popularity and the wealthy carried a variety of fancy snuff-boxes created by craftsmen in metal-work, jewellers and enamellers. Some of these were elaborately made and decorated, rich in detail and made from precious or expensive materials such as gold, silver and ivory and were often adorned with artwork, gems and precious stones. Boxes made for the poorer snuff taker were more ordinary; popular and cheap boxes were made in papier-mâché and even potato-pulp, which made durable boxes that kept the snuff in good condition. Alloys that resembled gold or silver were developed in the 18th and 19th centuries such as the ersatz gold Pinchbeck and the silver look-alike, Sheffield Plate. Other popular materials used in making these boxes include: Tortoise-shell, a favorite material owing to its satin lustre; Mother-of-pearl, which was kept in its natural iridescent state, or gilded, or used together with silver; and Exotic materials such as cowrie shells, enriched with enamels or set with diamonds or other precious stones. The lids were often adorned with a portrait, a classical vignette, portrait miniature, hardstone inlays, or micromosaic panel. Some of the most expensive just used subtly different colours of gold. Perhaps the most widely used semi-precious metal was silver and snuffs of all shapes and sizes were made in that metal during snuff's great popularity. Even after snuff-taking ceased to be a general habit, the practice lingered among diplomats, doctors, lawyers and other professionals as well as members of professions where smoking was not possible, such as miners and print workers and snuff still has a considerable following, particularly amongst ex-smokers. Monarchs retained the habit of bestowing snuff-boxes upon ambassadors and other intermediaries as a form of honor. As Charles Maurice de Talleyrand explained, the diplomatic corps found a ceremonious pinch to be a useful aid to reflection in a business interview. At the coronation of George IV of the United Kingdom, Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, the